Supporting and positioning device for chairs and the like



c, 'FURRl-:R

Jan. 15, 1935.

SUPPORTING AND POSITIONING DEVICE FOR CHAIRS AND THE LIKE Filed June 28, .1950 Z'SheetS--Sheefl lv Jan.' 115, 1935.

c. FURRER 1,988,037

" SUPPORTI'NG AND POSTIONQNG-DEVICE FOR CHAIRS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 28, 1950 lill Mrgvmofz Patented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOR CHAIRS AND THE LIKE Carl Fiirrer, Zug, Switzerland, assignor to Landis & Gyr, A.G., Zug, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Application June 28,

1930, Serial No. 464,439

In SwitzerlandJuly 12, 1929 1 Claim.

The invention relates to novel and useful improvements inr height or position varying means applicable to chairs and other objects whereinrapid, easy andv simple height variations and other positionings are desirable.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described. l5 The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. Of the drawings:

' Fig. 1 is an elevation, with parts in section, of a chair embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, horizontal section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1, showing the height adjusting means w in locked position; j

Fig. 3 is a like view to Fig. 2, showing the adjusting device in unlocked position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detached vertical sectional detail of parts `shown near the center of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of a hair embodying a different form o'f the invenion;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, horizontal section on line 6 6 of Fig. 5, showing the height adjusting means in locked position; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, detached, vertical sectional view of parts shown near the center of Fig. 5, and showing the locking device in unlocked position.

The invention provides novel position varying means, especially height varying means, applicable to chairs and other articles needing, and adaptable to, similar positional variations. In certain aspects, the invention provides such means having especial applicability to chairs and the like.

The invention provides position varying means of the kind described which are substantially au- '9 tomatic in operation in effecting the position changing operation, in that little need be done more than to move the object to the desired position, a slight additional movement of the object suflicing to unlock the holding means and to re- "n lock it to hold the article in the new position. In

addition, position varying means having the described characteristics are provided which are of very simple and sturdy construction, having few parts and operating in a very simple and reliable manner, and requiring no direct or manual manipulation of the holding or locking means.

Referring now in detail to the embodiment of the vinvention illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, the invention is shown applied to a chair, and in certain of its features it has vspecial application as a chair positioning means. In said exemplary showing, further, the locking device is shown in two forms; one form wherein it is gravity-operated, and the other form wherein it is spring-impelled.

Referring by way of example to said illustrated embodiment including the gravity-impelled locking means, reference is had to Figs. 1 to 4. In said figures a chair is shown having a seat and a frame 2 between which the variable positioning means are located and interact. Supported in fixedfposition upon, and projecting upwardly from, the frame 2 is a vertical tubular shaft 3, within which slides a downwardly-depending stem 4, fixed to the chair seat, and upon which the seat is supported. Stem 4 is likewise preferably hollow.

Referring now to the interacting locking devices, formed in the stem '4 are a plurality of positioning recesses 8, formed in the periphery of the stem, each of said recesses having the upper surface 9 thereof horizontal, or substantially horizontal, and having the lower surface 10 thereof inclined' outwardly and downwardly.A The recessesv correspond in number to the number and location of desired positions of the chair. Cooperating therewith on the tubular column 3 is a recess 15, which is inwardly -and downwardly inclined.

In connection with the recess 15, retaining and guiding means are provided for a freely-moving locking member which is impelled by gravity into the locking position, and which is moved from locking position by simply lifting the chair. The locking member referred to is preferably a freely-rolling member, and is shown as a cylinder 16. Guiding and retaining means for the freely moving member 16 comprise a plate 1'7, xed to, and

projecting from, the column 3 and extending upwardly and outwardly from the lower portion of the recess l5. The member 16 may thus move into and out of the recess 15 and along the plate 17, between locking and unlocking positions. To retain member 16, at either side 0f the plate 17 are upwardly and inwardly-extending walls 19,

which extend inwardly to, and engage with, the sides of the column The outer portion of the plate 17 is turned up at either side, as shown at 20 and 21, to constitute part of the retaining means for the locking member 16. Between the turned up portions 20 and 21 is an opening 22, through which the locking member may be introduced or vithdrawn.

It the stem 4 is solid with the chair seat 1, the mechanism will serve to hold the chair in a predetermined position, i. e., against free rotation.

This feature is frequently of advantage in various occupations, such as the operation or attendance upon certain machines. On the other hand, if a swivelling eiect is desired, this may be efected by suitable means such as providing an ordinary swivel joint 11 between the chair seat 1 and the stern 4.

In the operation of the embodiment just described, the parts are shown in locking position in Figs. l and 2. It will be seen that as soon as one or the recesses 8 in the stem 4 passes into alinen ment with the recess 15 in the column 3, the roll ing member 16 will pass into the recess 8, and will iorm a supporting and locking member, due to its po." ion in the particular recess 8 and the recess 15, and member 15 will support and loclr the chair, or the like, in desired position. If it is desired to the chair one or more notches, the rolling 1er 1o' will be moved upwardly and outwardly by engagement with the downwardly and outwardly slanting bottom surface 10 of the particular recess (l in which it is engaged, and it will roll upwardly along the plate 17 until it is clear of the ein 1. That is, it will move from the position of Tnlgs. 1 and 2 to that of 3, when it is clear of It will continue to do this, or to be in this position, so long as the chair is lifted. When the chair is released, it tends to sett-le by the action ci gravity, and the rolling member 16 is per *ted to roil downwardly along the plate 17 and inwardly in the recess 15, and will enter one of the recesses 8 in tl e stem 4. I'he upper surface 9 of the recess 8 will rest thereon, the rolling member being interlocked in recesses 8 and 15, the chair is supported or l cked into desired position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Jhen it is desired to lower the chair, or the like, it is slightly lifted, and in the manner already described the rolling member 16 passes out of the recess 8 and rolls upward along the plate 17, until clear of the stem 4. Thereupon the stem 4 is rotated approximately degrees, whereby the series of recesses 8 are moved out of register with the rolling member 16, which is then maintained in unlocking position by the solid periphery of the stem 4. The chair may then be lowered to any desired position, the stem 4 sliding freely within the column 3. When the desired position is cached, the chair is rotated again to the position shown in Fig. 2, and the rolling member again passes into interlocking position with the recesses 8 and 15 in the manner previously described,

thereby supporting and locking the chair in position.

In Figs. e to 3, an embodiment is ercmpiarily shown wherein the locking device is both held in position and impelled to locking position by resilient means, such as a spring. This obviates the necessity for the retaining and guiding means shown in the other exemplary embodiment already described. The general structure of the chair and frame may be as in the other embodiment, and need not be again described. The rolling member 16 is acted upon by resilient means, shown herein as a coil tension spring 27. As embodied, grooves 28 and 29 are formed in either end of the rolling member 16, and the spring 27 has terminal hooks 29 and 30 hooking over the grooved portions of the member 16, the tension spring passing about the exterior oi the hollow column 3.

In operation the spring both holds the locking member 16 in position and impels it to locking position. The operation is otherwise as already described. That is, when a recess 8 on the stem is in register' with the recess 15, the spring draws the member 16 inwardly, and it moves downwardly in the rc 17 an( into registered recess 8, and the tcp surf .ce 9 of the ecess rests upon the member 16 and the chair is thereby supported. When the chair is lifted upwardly, the downwardly and outwardly inclined surface 1f) ci' the recess moves the member 1:3 l'jaclzwardly against the tension of its spring until it passes outside the periphery or the stem 4, the chair being thereby rendered freely movable. When a recess 8 on the stem is brought into register with the recess 15, the member 15 is drawn inwardly by its spring, in the maner previously described, and is again in locking and supporting position. By imparting a quarter-rotation to the stem i when the member 16 is outside the periphery thereof, the chair or the like may be lowered to any desired position, and by subsequent rotation in the opposite direction, the locking movement may be again effected as alreads7 describe The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the ez-:act constructions herein exemplarily shown and described as embodiments thereof. but changes may be made in said structures. within the scope of the accompanying claims, without departing from the principles of the invention or sacricing its chier advantages.

What I claim is:-

A chair including in combine tion a seat. for the seat, a frame pari in y vertically movable, an open slot formed i frame part, spaced apart on sai a detent member slidable in slot, said slot being osuincint depth to completely receive said I. tent member and a coiled spring encircling frame part and secured to the opposite ends of said detent for inging said datent inwardly through said slot and into one said notches to hold the seat and stem at the desired height.

CARL FHRER.

the 

